See also:

• ABSCESS (from Lat. abscedere, to separate)

ABSCESS (from See also:

• LAT

Lat. abscedere, to See also:

• SEPARATE

separate)  , in See also:

• PATHOLOGY (from Gr. raBos, suffering)

pathology, a collection of pus among the tissues of. the See also:

• BODY

body, the result of bacterial inflammation . Without the presence of septic See also:

• ORGAN

organ-isms See also:

• ABSCESS (from Lat. abscedere, to separate)

abscess does not occur . At any See also:

• RATE

rate, every acute abscess contains septic germs, and these may have reached the inflamed See also:

• AREA

area by See also:

• DIRECT

direct infection, or may have been carried thither by the See also:

• BLOOD

blood-stream . Previous to the formation of abscess some-thing has occurred to See also:

• LOWER

lower the vitality of the affected tissuesome See also:

• GROSS

gross injury, perchance, or it may be that the See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of resistance against bacillary invasion was lowered by See also:

• REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason of constitutional weakness . As the result, then, of lowered vitality, a certain area becomes congested and effusion takes See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place into the tissues . This effusion coagulates and a hard, brawny See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass is formed which softens towards the centre . If nothing is done the softened area increases in See also:

• SIZE

size, the skin over it becomes thinned, loses its vitality (mortifies) and a small " See also:

• SLOUGH

slough " is formed . When the slough gives way the pus escapes and, tension being relieved, See also:

• PAIN (from Lat. poena, Gr. robin, penalty, that which must be paid: O. Fr. peine)
• PAIN, BARRY (1867– )

pain ceases . A See also:

• LOCAL

local See also:

• NECROSIS (Gr. vEKpos, corpse)

necrosis or See also:

• DEATH

death of See also:

• TISSUE (Fr. tissu, tissue, participle of tisser, Lat. texere, to weave)

tissue takes place at that, See also:

• PART

part of the inflammatory swelling farthest from the healthy circulation . When the attack of septic inflammation is very acute, death of the tissue occurs en masse, as in the core of a See also:

• BOIL

boil or See also:

• CARBUNCLE (Lat. carbunculus, diminutive of carbo, a glowing coal)

carbuncle . Sometimes, however, no such mass of dead tissue is to be observed, and all that escapes when the skin is lanced or gives way is the creamy pus . In the latter See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case the tissue has broken down in a molecular See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form .

'After the See also:

• ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape of the core or slough along with a certain amount of pus, a space; the abscess-cavity, is See also:

• LEFT

left, the walls of which are lined with new vascular tissue which has itself escaped destruction .. This lowly organized material is called granulation tissue, and exactly resembles the growth which covers the See also:

• FLOOR (from O. Eng. flor, a word common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch vloer, and Ger. Flur, a field, in the feminine, and a floor, masculine)

floor of an See also:

• ULCER

ulcer . These granulations eventually fill the contracting cavity and obliterate it by forming interstitial scar-tissue . This is called healing by second intention . Pus may accumulate in a normal cavity, such as a See also:

• JOINT (through Fr. from Lat. junctum, jungere, to join)

joint or bursa, or in the See also:

• CRANIAL

cranial, thoracic or abdominal cavity . In all these situations, if the diagnosis is clear, the principle of treatment is evacuation and drainage . When evacuating an abscess it is often advisable to scrape away the lining of unhealthy granulations and to See also:

• WASH, THE

wash out the cavity with an antiseptic lotion . If the after-drainage of the cavity is thorough the formation of pus ceases and the watery See also:

• DISCHARGE (adapted from the O. Fr. discharge, modern decharge, from a med. Lat. discargare, to unload, dis- and earn care, to load, cf. " charge ")

discharge from the abscess See also:

• WALL (O. Eng. weal, weall, Mid. Eng. wal, wane, adapted from Lat. vallum, rampart; the original O. Eng. word for a wall was wag or tenth)
• WALL, RICHARD (1694-1778)

wall subsides . As the cavity contracts the discharge becomes less, until at last the drainage See also:

• TUBE (Lat. tuba)

tube can be removed and the See also:

• EXTERNAL

external See also:

• WOUND (O. Eng. wund,connected with a Teutonic verb, meaning to strive, fight, suffer, seen in O. Eng. winnan, whence Eng. " win ")

wound allowed to heal . The large collections of pus which form in connexion with disease of the See also:

• SPINAL

spinal See also:

• COLUMN (Lat. columna)

column in the cervical, dorsal and lumbar regions are now treated by See also:

• FREE

free evacuation of the tuberculous pus, with careful antiseptic See also:

• MEASURES

measures . The opening should be in as de-pendent a position as possible in See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order that the drainage may be thorough . If tension recurs after opening has been made, as by the blocking of the tube, or by its imperfect position, or by its being too See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short, there is likely to be a fresh formation of pus, and without delay the whole See also:

• PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure must be gone through again .

(E .